Investing in ‘green infrastructure’ like restoring floodplains or wetlands to bolster flood prevention not only generates more environmental and socio-economic benefits, especially in the long term, but also lowers the amount of financial investment needed to defend against damaging floods.

This is the conclusion of a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report, which assesses the green options available in building climate resilience in wake of the increased risk posed by river flooding.

The EEA report ‘Green infrastructure and flood management — promoting cost-efficient flood risk reduction via green infrastructure solutions,’ outlines the challenges and opportunities posed by using more environmentally friendly options to bolster defences against river flooding. The report looks specifically at six case studies on the Elbe (Germany), the Rhône (France), the Scheldt (Belgium) and the Vistula (Poland) river basins, and points to the potential, in terms of suitable space, for restoring floodplains alongside them.

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